


RWBY Volume 8 & 9

by BrianneABanana



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past team STRQ feels, Raven redemption, all the kids really - Freeform, antics, brief allusion to episode 12, cursing, non-graphic retelling of episode 12
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:06:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25250581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrianneABanana/pseuds/BrianneABanana
Summary: Picking up where volume 7 left our heroes, how will the yet unsaid implications of Raven's return to Patch influence the battle against Salem in Atlas? Will the adults of RWBY all get second chances to mend broken bonds and come out stronger?...Of course they will!This is a sort of volume 8-9 write through of mine, picking up from volume 7s canon events and utilizing the still unrevealed (As of pre vol 8) implications of volume 5s post credits scene. It will focus on the post battle development of Fair Game, and the reuniting of team TRQ along with a redemption for Raven in the eyes of her family. Lots of fluff, feelings, and fighting grimm with the occasional angst moment.
Relationships: Qrow Branwen & Raven Branwen & Taiyang Xiao Long, Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi, Raven Branwen & Taiyang Xiao Long
Comments: 26
Kudos: 33





	1. Reunited and it Feels... Not Good

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to [Sica](https://archiveofourown.org/users/madamoiselle_sica) and [Sorkari](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sorkari/pseuds/Sorkari) for being my Betas!
> 
> I hope to finish at least the first 'volume' of this by the time hype starts rolling for the real Volume 8, or at least by the time its aired. Wish me Luck!

A mere few weeks ago the scene currently playing out at the Xiao Long household would have been impossible to imagine and yet, Raven Branwen is sitting at the kitchen table next to Taiyang sipping tea in comfortable silence. Surely impossible, except for the fact that all those ‘weeks ago’ the battle at Haven occurred on a crisp spring night. The events of that evening had made Raven finally question her own actions; her confrontations with Yang and Qrow having driven her to realize that maybe what she did wasn’t out of love for her family, but out of her own selfish fear and that she wasn’t happy with that idea. So, after fleeing Haven and returning to the tribe for some of her supplies, she had used her semblance to visit the only other person she could: Taiyang.

At first Taiyang was wary of her. Absolutely understandable and even expected, considering what he’d been through because of her. The man lost his first wife to fear, then his second wife to who knows what, left with two daughters and a self-isolating brother-in-law to pick up the pieces. 

Taiyang bristled when Raven stepped out of her semblance portal. “What are you doing here?” he asked, his voice level but his posture rigid.

Raven quietly replied, “I asked myself the very same question.” She sheathed her sword and the portal closed. “Look, I… Something happened recently that made me  _ rethink _ some things. I’m not going to be all buddy buddy again, but I’d like to talk.” Silence and a slight breeze filled the space between them before Raven tacked on, “It involves the girls and Qrow as well.”

Tai’s eyes widened before narrowing in suspicion, “That’s… surprising to hear to be frank. Since it involves the girls I’ll hear you out, but you need to know that I’m not going to allow you to speak ill of my family, and I’m  _ absolutely willing and able _ to remove you from this house, understood?”

“Understood.”

Taiyang simply turned towards the front door, walking inside and through the living room towards the kitchen, and started up a pot of tea. Raven followed him without hesitance, her former home not perturbing her in the slightest. She sat down in the kitchen she remembered from their youth, memories unwillingly dancing around the space until the whistle of the tea kettle dissolved them away.

He placed a cup of tea in front of her and sat down. “Luckily I had some black tea in the cabinet. Now, talk.”

Raven told him the basics. Her brief meeting with Qrow in an Animan village bar, Yang arriving at her camp and demanding answers, and their confrontation at Haven academy and her subsequent fleeing. She gave Taiyang details about her talks with Yang and Qrow, not sparing her blunt and harsh words, but she kept her maiden powers a secret. ‘ _ This was about them _ ,’ she thought, ‘ _ not Salem _ .’ She finished her retelling of the events with her decision to visit him, made a few days after she fled Haven academy, upon realizing that she wasn’t as sure about her actions as she once was.

“I reasoned that I could discuss this with you. As much as I know you hate me for what I did,  _ despite _ that  _ and _ because of it, I still think you can give me an unbiased view of the situation.” 

The blond huntsman has been silent all through her story, though his emotions bled through his face and posture as it always tended to. Now that she was finished, he spoke, his voice low, “Gods that’s… it's not insane considering what we went through as a team decades ago but- that's a lot to take in.” He ran his hand through his hair, trying to make sense of everything she told him.  _ Salem manipulating Leo and killing Mistral hunters, Raven willingly joining her side, Ozpin being alive in the body of a teenager, the kids and Qrow trying to gather the relics, Ruby and Yang reuniting their team... _

Tai took a deep breath.  _ ‘Priorities’ _ he told himself. Focusing back on Raven, he addressed her, “First: you said the girls and Qrow are alright?”

“Of course you would ask that,” Raven griped. “They’re all fine. They survived the battle with minimal injury and all three still hate me.”

“Good. Not that they hate you, but that they’re alright. Though I can understand why they would feel that way.” he said, sounding disappointed.

Raven rolled her eyes, but stayed silent.

Taiyang continued, “Secondly, you were right in your assumption. I hated you for what you did to this family long ago and while my hatred has smoldered into unhappy indifference, I can respect that it must’ve taken some  _ incredible _ force to bring you here after all of that, so you will get my fair opinion. Now, I’m going to need to clarify some things to understand exactly what happened at Haven. For instance, you joined  _ Salem? _ You  _ willingly _ harbored the spring maiden after leaving us over Oz’s secrets? And you really told Qrow that you thought you were  _ never family? _ ”

At Taiyang’s tone, a mix of disbelief, sadness, and betrayal, Raven tentatively replied, “Yes… I did- all of those things. I’m not saying that I’m proud of any one of them.”

“And I’m not accusing you of being proud of those decisions. Tell me how things went down. What decisions you made in those moments and why you made them, so I can understand your thinking, your point of view.”

Raven did. It took time and some gentle coaxing from Tai, but she spilled everything to her former teammate. Her fears, her rationale, her moments of panic. She shed silent tears, realizing the hurt she had caused. “I turned my back on you all. How could I tell my own brother that I didn’t think we had ever been family? After everything we went through together, when we only had each other…”

Tai offered his hand across the table. “You had been thinking the same way for so long that being on the other side of the battle from Qrow could’ve kicked up old feelings from when we first separated. What you said was harsh, but not something that you can’t take back. I’d like to think that Qrow would forgive you, but... I don’t know for sure.” His face took on a troubled look, “To be honest, I haven’t sat down and talked with him in a long time. He’s been on solo missions most of the time and doesn’t visit when he’s in between them. The last time he was here at the house was a few months ago after Beacon fell, to tell Ruby where he was going. He didn’t stick around.”

“I’m a little shocked to hear that.” Raven told him, “When we met briefly in that bar he ribbed me about being a terrible mother before discussing the spring maiden… He doesn’t practice what he preaches anymore does he?” 

“Seeing as I haven’t seen a crow around the house nor heard much about visits from the girls, I guess he doesn’t. Still, I can’t fault him considering everything... After you left and Summer disappeared Qrow was just as affected as I was, and his depression amplified both his semblance and his rationale that he needed to stay away from the people he cares about.”

“His nasty drinking habit doesn’t help things either.”

“No, it doesn’t. Anyways, you’re not here to talk to me about Qrow. Back to your rationale - you said that something prompted this change in you; what was strong enough to change your mind after so long?”

He raised his eyebrow when Raven crossed her arms and admitted to her tea, “Right, I was given a new view to the reasoning behind my actions. That what I did was more self-preservation out of fear than protection out of care for others, and that the wisened strength I thought I had wasn’t strength at all, but a cowardly desperation.” She flicked her eyes up to Taiyang’s unimpressed expression before adding, “Leaving you all because of my fear of Salem wasn’t a necessity. Nor was teaming up with her associates to avoid her wrath. Nor was… was killing an innocent girl to protect her from a bad fate.”

“ _ What?”  _ Taiyang's breath whooshed out of his chest. “Why did you kill a girl?? Who was she?”

Raven slumped in her seat, not from Taiyang’s reaction, but her own realizations. “It happened decades ago but… I had found the spring maiden while traveling with the tribe. Out of pity I tried my best to train her, for years I tried, but in the end she just couldn’t handle the power. I reasoned that she would be hunted down by Salem and that no one should live that life, so I killed her to spare her that pain. I know now that what I was doing wasn’t mercy. It was the actions of someone too weak to protect her.”

Taiyang gritted his teeth. “No amount of regret will make up for that… I don’t know if I'm surprised or not to hear that you murdered a young girl to ‘spare her pain’, but I am wholeheartedly disappointed. Am I assuming correctly that you’re the spring maiden now?”

“Yes. I’ve been the maiden for at least a decade or two at this point. Traveling frequently with the tribe allowed me to hone my abilities and keep away from Salem up until her very own maiden and her cronies found me.”

“I remember Qrow saying that Salem had a maiden on her side after Beacon fell… Anyways, back to that information, what of the others, do they know of that story? Of your powers?”

“As far as I’m aware, only Yang knows. I told her what happened with the spring maiden when we were alone in the relic vault, so unless she told the others, only she knows.”

“Am I also correct in assuming that Yang was the reason you’re _ rethinking _ some things?” he asked, a bit of satisfaction slipping out through his tone.

“Yes.” Raven admitted, “Yang said some things to me down in that vault that directly shut down the last 20 or so years of my decision making and… and made me feel ashamed. I couldn’t believe that my- that  _ she _ had such a strong conviction despite the fears she voiced to me, and that she was so willing to put her life on the line for others. It affected me so much that I… I  _ apologized _ to her before running away.” She made sure to look Tai in the eye before saying, “She’s grown into a fine young woman, your daughter.”

Taiyang simply agreed proudly, “Of course she has. She had me as a father and a loving uncle and sister to help her learn. Though it's strange not to hear you call her your own daughter. You always  _ insisted _ despite your abandonment of her.” 

“I won’t call Yang my daughter, at least not until I’ve earned her respect, and become as close as I can to being someone who is strong for the right reasons. Just like her.”

Taiyang sat back in his chair and nodded his head. “Ok, so you’ve told me about the events of the past few months, and that my eldest daughter impacted how you view your actions since you left. What now?”

Taking her chin in her hand, Raven took a moment to think. “I’m… not sure. That's part of the reason why I came here. I had hoped that you might be able to direct me to the right course of action.”

“Well, from my perspective you have a few choices.” Tai held up a finger. “A: you could do nothing. Your purpose of coming here to figure out your feelings is a simple one that could even be over with now, and you could return to the tribe. B: you could stick around with me and I could help you become that person you think would make Yang proud. Or C: you could go back to the others and apologize, tell them what you’ve told me, and help them fight Salem. With as much as I know about you, even with our distance, I’d think it would be best for you to take choice B. First, you _should_ work to better yourself now that you understand that you can do so, and having a teacher who knows you help you would make things easier. Secondly, I understand your fear of Salem at this point, but there's always time to join the fight against her after you’ve changed. I certainly think that they’ll appreciate having both a maiden _and_ a renewed Raven on their side.”

That night, Raven had agreed with her former husband and teammate that she would stay with him in order to redeem herself in the eyes of her family at the very least.

Now, weeks later, Raven Branwen is sitting at the kitchen table next to Taiyang Xiao Long sipping tea in comfortable silence. 

The two had somewhat mended things between them, both agreeing that their relationship was to be kept purely platonic, neither wishing to stir up any past feelings. They cohabited in peace with Taiyang helping Raven to change, and Raven helping Tai around the house. Her presence kept a secret. Raven wanted to wait to contact her estranged brother until she felt confident that she could bear the brunt of his anger and give him a meaningful apology without Taiyang there to convince him. The same went for Yang, though she felt that Qrow would more easily accept her. 

Ravens choice ended up being taken away from her when she felt it- the harsh tug in her chest from her semblance, alerting her that her loved ones were in turmoil. Her gasp at the feeling had Tai concerned, “What is it?”

“It’s… Qrow and Yang are in trouble, Tai.”

“Both of them?”

“I think so.” Raven closed her eyes and concentrated inwards. The pull felt more like losing tug of war to a boarbatusk than the tiny snag she was used to feeling. “My semblance effect hasn’t been this strong since… since Summer, so I don’t think it's just one of them.”

Tai nodded. “What do you want to do? I want to check on them, but inevitably they’ll know I used your portal to do it even if I go alone. Do you feel ready to face them again?”

“To be honest, I don’t. But I can’t let my fears stop me. Let’s go.”

The duo gathered their weapons and readied to leave. Out in the yard, Taiyang spoke, “We should be ready for anything, knowing those kids.”

“Unfortunately. They attract trouble like Qrow attracts misfortune. Speaking of Qrow, I can sense that he’s separated from Yang.”

“In that case, let’s meet up with Yang. I know you didn’t want to see her before Qrow, but if they’re in trouble Qrow can handle himself just fine. He’s an incredibly seasoned huntsman even now, and while Yang has her team, they might still need us.”

“Right. Let’s go then.”

With a slash of her  Ōdachi Raven opened a portal. Taiyang slipped through first. She let out a shaky sigh, psyching herself up before following.

It was time for Raven Branwen to face her  _ second _ greatest fear…

Her daughter.


	2. Family Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raven and Tai arrive in Atlas, raising tensions even higher and discovering why Raven felt such distress- at least from Yang. In the mean time, the jailbirds get a jail break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The tags ramp up a bit from here, be sure to check for new ones each chapter!

Team RWBY didn’t think things could get much worse with Salem having arrived in Solitas on the back of a giant grimm whale with an army of flying grimm, but the _swish-hum_ of Raven Branwen’s portal opening in the back of their crowded manta proved them wrong. The kids all immediately prepared for a fight; hardening their expressions, steadying their stances, and raising their weapons towards the semblance doorway. 

“Why of all times is she here? Why now???” Blake asked angrily. _Hadn’t she interfered in their lives enough? Was she still working with Cinder?_

They faltered seeing not Raven, but Taiyang step through the portal. 

“Dad??” Yang burst out, “What are you doing here? How did you use Raven’s semblance?”

The man in question cleared his voice, “ _We_ wanted to know if you needed help.” He gestured back to the portal, Raven stepping through a moment later.

A shocked hush fell over the group. Before anyone could start screaming or demanding things, Ruby stuck her hand out to keep order. Her voice was slow and level when she questioned him, “Dad, why are you with her?” 

_‘She’s grown quite a bit since the fall.’_ Tai thought wistfully. “Girls, everyone, Raven came to me after your battle at Haven two months ago. She told me what happened, not sparing _any_ details, and asked me to help her. She said that someone-” he looked over at his first daughter, giving her a proud look, “made her rethink her past choices and start putting in the effort to change. Whether or not you all believe that, we came here because Raven felt that you and Qrow were in trouble. We wanted to at least check on you, and help if you all wanted it.”

Yang returned her dad's gaze, but pinched. “I know _you_ have our best interests in mind dad, but I’m not so sure about _her_. I need to hear from her mouth why she would help us after what she did.”

The room shifted, the focus of their expectant stares now turned on Raven. She looked up from her gaze on the floor, “Your father is telling the truth. After the battle at Haven I felt lost, the impact of your words making me second guess all of my decisions. I went to him seeking another opinion I could trust, and ended up staying. I’m… working on changing myself to be who I thought I was being: Someone strong and brave for their family. I wasn’t ready to try and redeem myself in your eyes but I felt both you and Qrow in great distress, so Tai agreed that we should make sure you’re ok at the least. We are willing to help if you’ll accept it.”

Nora spoke up, saying what everyone else who was at Haven was thinking: “Are we really going to let her help? After everything she did??”

Jaune chimed in, “I don’t like it either, but we don’t have that much of a choice, Nora. Or did you forget what’s on the horizon?” The hush resumed in the manta.

Tai and Raven exchanged a worried look. “What _is_ the trouble?” Tai asked, “If it’s serious enough for both Yang and Qrow to be distressed like this…”

“You might want to look out the window.” Blake said, arms crossed. “It might change your mind about wanting to _help._ ”

After meeting equally confused eyes, the two pivoted, their backs now facing the kids and eyes wide to Salem on the horizon, a terrifying scene of dark skies, thousands of flying grimm, and a gigantic whale grimm. Raven began shaking with fear, but Tai placed his hand on hers, speaking softly. “You didn’t make the decision to fight Salem, only to check on the family. If you decide to leave, I won’t fault you, but I'm going to stay and help. What do you want to do?” 

A hundred scenarios of what could go wrong flashed through Ravens mind, all of them ending in death and destruction. But the words in the back of her mind, the ones she kept there since Yang sternly said them to her in Haven, won out. “I’ll stay. It’s the least I could do, and I’ll be able to assist.” She turned to her estranged daughters then, “If… if they’ll let me.”

The girls exchanged a look of their own. Ruby started, “Yang I know how you feel about this situation. I don’t like this in the slightest, but… With what's going on right now, I think we could use the help. I don’t trust Raven, even with her supposed good intentions, but if dad vouches for her and promises to keep her in line, then I’ll accept them for now. What do you think?”

Yang sent a glare to Raven, seemingly trying to find something to help her make a decision. She turned back to Ruby, “You’re right that I don’t like this in the slightest, but you’re also right that we need all the help we can get. Raven will be useful beyond being just a huntress after all.” 

“What do you mean?”

Raven was taken aback, “You… didn’t tell them?”

“I didn’t, no. Don’t think it was out of care for you. I simply didn’t want to deal with you anymore, just like how I don’t want to deal with you now” Yang spat. 

Nora interjected, “Yang, what’re you talking about?”

“I’m saying she’ll be useful because Raven is the _actual_ spring maiden. Vernal was just a convenient decoy.”

“WHAT?”

“ _what.”_

“What???”

“Excuse me???”

“Hold it!” Jaune yelled, gathering the attention of the ship. He pointed accusingly at Yang, “You mean to tell me that Raven was a maiden this _entire time?_ Since _Haven??_ Why in all of remnant is this just coming about _now?_ ”

Weiss stood up, getting in between the two blondes. “Wait Jaune, as angry as I am at Yang for not telling us,” she leveled a pointed look at Yang “and trust me, I’m _angry-_ I’m just happy that we have another maiden on our side now! If Raven really wants to help, I’ll welcome it. We can talk through why Yang kept it a secret later.”

Tai and Raven looked confused, as did Maria, Pietro, and team JNR. 

This time it was Ren who spoke, “Wait, _another_ maiden?”

“Oh yes! Uh..” 

Penny stood at Weiss’ stammering, a little unsure, but determined. “Yes, I am the new winter maiden.”

“How did that happen Penny?” Ren asked, wide eyed.

“To keep things brief, Winter and I were going to transfer Fria’s power to Winter on General Ironwood's orders. Fria activated her powers but she knew her time had come. I was the only one able to withstand the ice and cold blasts to reach her, so I sat with her as she died. She… _chose_ _me_ , instead of Winter who was supposed to become the next maiden. She gave the power to me because-” Penny stopped. She actually didn’t know why Fria had chosen her instead of Winter. _‘Why me?’_

Weiss held her hand, “The reason doesn’t matter right now Penny. What matters is that we have you on our side.”

“Alright then.” Ruby continued, turning back to Tai and Raven, “You two can help. We should get down to Mantle and figure out what to do now. And see if we can find uncle Qrow.” 

“Speaking of Qrow, why isn’t he with you all?” Asked Tai, “I thought he traveled all this way with you?”

“He did.” Blake replied. “He’s working with other hunters right now and-” she suddenly looked scared, “Wait you don’t think… Would Clover-?”

The kids all looked varying degrees of distraught. Nora clicked her tongue, “As much as I hate to say it, he _totally would_. If the Ace Ops so quickly turned on you guys, who's to say he wouldn’t just as fast?”

“But, Clover was different!” Ruby tried, “He and Uncle Qrow got along so well and they were _partners!_ They even have Robyn there with them and her semblance to clear up any information, he wouldn’t just… just arrest Uncle Qrow without hearing him out would he?” 

Yang scoffed, “You mean like the time he did that when we arrived? When he didn’t let Qrow explain that he was a licensed huntsman and knew Ironwood personally? Yeah, _he would_.” Ruby’s face fell and Yang sighed, “I’m sorry Ruby. I wanted Clover to be a better person too for all he’s helped Uncle Qrow, but we have to face the fact that he most likely will follow Ironwood’s order and try to arrest him. We can always use Raven’s semblance to find him once we’re prepared for what could be on the other side, ok?”

Tai and Raven looked a mix of confused and suspicious. “Who is this Clover?” Tai asked, “Why is Qrow working with him?”

Ruby shook her head, “We can explain later. For now we should head down to Mantle and find a place to hide and plan for what comes next. We can find Uncle Qrow _and_ Oscar after that.”

* * *

At the same time across the sky in Atlas, Qrow and Robyn sat in a cold cell, hands still bound with bolas. 

Qrow looked defeated. He slumped against the wall, Clover’s bloodied pin in his hands, telling himself how _he should’ve known this would happen. That he thought Clover was different, that he wouldn’t be as blind as Qrow once was when Ozpin was still an old man._ His shoulders fell, just like his silent tears.

_Robyn_ on the other hand, was sitting up, alert, seemingly waiting for something. That something being numerous loud clangs and grunts coming from down the hall.

The commotion brought Qrow out of his thoughts, “What's going on?” he questioned skeptically.

Robyn scoffed, “ _What's going on_ , is my Huntresses breaking us out!” She laid her hand on his shoulder, “Come on 5 o’ clock shadow, I know you’re hurting right now, but you could do a lot of good out there with us. It’ll be a good distraction. Besides, think of your kids. If Clover was so quick to fight, then what about the other ace ops who your nieces were with?”

Qrow bristled at that idea. “I have no doubt those kids can hold their own, even against James’ ‘elite soldiers’. Fine, I’ll come with you. But if you get in the way of my revenge on James I won't hesitate to cut you down.”

“Oh you’re right, I wouldn’t worry about them,” Robyn laughed heartily, “What I _would_ worry about is getting to Ironwood before I can put a bolt between his eyes. That asshole was all ‘kumbaya’ and ‘coming together’ before he flipped a switch and decided to arrest his newest allies, so he has it coming.”

“I’ll take that as a friendly challenge. Thanks Robyn.” _‘She’s right, I almost forgot about the kids in all this mess…’_ Qrow stood up, the other 3 huntresses having broken the lock to their cell and waiting for them to follow. He looked down at the pin once more. “You did so right by me Clover, even when you didn’t know how to for yourself. I’ll give you the benefit of a doubt on this one. James will take responsibility for what he's done.” He pinned Clover’s emblem on his coat and joined the others. 

He had spaced out as Robyn talked with her huntresses, so he jumped when Johanna held out Harbinger to him, still coated in Clover's blood. The tundra came back to him in flashes briefly, his hands shaking at his sides and his breath hitching at the memories. 

Robyn’s voice cut through his mental avalanche, “Branwen! Are you going to be ok handling your weapon?” Her voice shifted into something strangely gentle for her character, “We can always find you something else to use if you need.” 

Qrow looked back around at his weapon; the very same that- “N-no… _No_ I don’t have time for shit like that right now. Stopping James and saving Mantle is too important and- and I can… properly work through whatever the fuck I'm feeling about Clover after this is over.” He took Harbinger from Johanna’s hands. ‘ _I’ll never look at my broadsword the same after this, huh?’_ he thought bitterly. “You better have a damn good plan Hill.”

She flashed him a grin as she strapped Verity to her arm, “What do you take me for? I would’ve won that council seat if not for this bullshit! First, we get the hell out of here and take a ship back down to our hideout in Mantle. May can cloak us all the way to the ship and down to the city to avoid the soldiers filling every inch of Atlas and it's skies. Next, we gather supplies and ready ourselves to fight our way to Ironwood and get more ships to transport more people up to Atlas. While all that's happening, you should see if you can find your kids. Like I said, if Clover turned on us, the rest of Ironwood's little attack squad probably did the same.”

“Ha! And Like _I_ said, I’m confident my kids could beat James’ soldiers. Either way, meeting up with them again is our best bet for figuring out why James snapped.”

May interrupted, “Hey guys, let's get a move on!”

The two birds nodded, “Lets go.”

* * *

With May’s invisibility semblance, making their way to the manta hangar was a cinch. Not a single soldier was wise as to their escape until an entire ship disappeared before their eyes, yet nothing could be done to track it. 

Fiona took the pilots chair with steady hands, somehow. Everyone else's hands were shaking. They had just left the hangar and changed direction towards Mantle when they saw it: a _cloud_ of grimm almost blotting out the sunrise and the immortal grimm woman on top of the giant whale heading it all. 

“WE HAVE TO FUCKING FIGHT _THAT_ ???” May shouted. “ _ROBYN_ , when you said an immortal grimm woman had an army ready to kill us, I didn’t think you meant **_THAT._ ** I’m still 100% in it with you, you _know_ I’m ride-or-die, but how are we gonna fight that????”

Robyn gritted her teeth, redirecting the question to Qrow, “Yes Branwen, how the hell do you expect us to fight that??”

“We have a powerful weapon at our disposal” he explained through gritted teeth. “If she can use it, Ruby has the ability to freeze and destroy grimm. She petrified a Wyvern at the Fall of Beacon, destroyed a pack of Apathy on the way to Argus, and froze an entire Leviathan before we flew here. With everyone pushing the grimm back and getting Ruby close to Salem and her whale, she should be able to at least freeze if not destroy them, leaving the grimm without a leader.”

“Then all we have to do after _that_ is destroy an army of flying grimm, right?” May shot back, not convinced. “And did you say **_IF_ ** she can use it???”

“Yes!” Qrow shot back, “I _did_ say **_‘if.’_ ** Her silver eyes are still something she’s working on controlling ok? Look, I know this whole fight against Salem is next to impossible. We only told people if we thought they could take how crazy and grave this whole situation is. That being said, are you all still in this?”

Robyn huffed, “With how the state of things are now, how can we not be?” She approached Qrow and cuffed his shoulder, “We’re with you Branwen, you and all your kids too. You need all the help you can get, and I’m not in a hurry to die via grimm whale anytime before I get my shot at Ironwood.”

“Speaking of James, I hate to say it but Salem being on his doorstep may be the reason he snapped. I’ll certainly let you give him what-for about betraying us, but wait until I get the chance to figure out what really happened. I could still have a chance to get through to him somehow.”

“That's fair.”

Fiona from the cockpit: “Uh, Robyn, you guys need to hop out in a second, we got grimm incoming!”

Before she could open the doors, the manta was covered in grimm and plummeting towards Mantle's streets. “Hold on everyone!”

Qrow and Robyn could only think _‘Not this again!’_ as they felt the ship’s wing clip a building and slam into the pavement.


	3. Once More, With Feeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two groups converge and everything comes out into the open. Lots of feelings to be had this chapter, so buckle up!
> 
> Tags updated too; warning for non-graphic retelling of episode 12.  
> If you'd like to avoid it, its in the second section between "Qrow took a long, shaky breath," and “I’m so sorry to hear that Uncle Qrow”

The ground shook and buildings creaked as an Atlesian manta clipped an apartment building and crash landed on the cracked and crumbled pavement in outer Mantle. It certainly wasn’t as bad as dropping hundreds of feet down to the cold, hard tundra, but the collision was still rattling. Luckily, Qrow and all four huntresses walked away after shaking some of the tension from their bones. 

Moving down the street with the goal of reaching the hideout was short lived, thanks to a shit ton of grimm that turned the corner and charged them right then. 

“It’s just one thing after another isn’t it?” Qrow griped. They all readied their weapons, but before they could engage another manta landed between them and the grimm. Qrow and Robyn shared a wary look as they heard a number of fighting yells and the sounds of battle from the other side of the plane. 

“Qrow!” Maria called out to them. She and Pietro exited the manta and made their way over, “Of course you would be getting in trouble. Good thing we saw you as we flew by!” 

Pietro was quick to follow, “A lot has happened in the last hour or so, I trust you heard Ruby’s message?”

Qrow and Robyn tensed, the older’s shoulders bunching up and the younger's fists whitening. Robyn replied, “Oh we heard. We have a lot to tell you too.” The yells, crashes, and gunshots settled behind the manta, prompting her to continue, “We’re on our way to the Happy Huntress’ hideout. You all are welcome to join us if you’re against Ironwood.”

“We are.” Ruby appeared from behind the plane. “Uncle Qrow! Are you ok???” She rushed forwards and looked him over. Qrow couldn’t meet her eyes, but he could feel silver meet bloodied silver when she saw Clover’s pin on his lapel. “What… What happened?” 

Yang ran up next to Ruby, “Uncle Qrow! What's going-?” She fell silent, probably seeing the same thing Ruby did. Qrow couldn’t stop a tear from escaping his eye. His nieces enveloped him in a tight hug. “I’m so sorry Uncle Qrow.” Ruby consoled. Yang joined, “You’ll be ok. We’re here for you. If he was anything like the other Ace Ops then he made his own choice.”

Their Uncle let out a wet chuckle as he hugged them back, “Thanks girls. I’ll have to explain what happened once we get to the hideout.”

“Speaking of explaining…” Ruby trailed off, rubbing her head. Her tone was younger than it had been when she got her official huntsman license a few weeks ago. _Good to hear she’s still got some youth in her. A healthy sense of mischief… wait-_ Qrow narrowed his eyes, “What’s happened now? Who did you beat up this time?” 

“Well we _did_ beat up the Ace Ops,” Yang added “but we mean something else.” Both girls turned around and Qrow followed their attention to the manta, to… His jaw almost dropped.

His former sister and somewhat estranged brother-in-law stood before him, the former not meeting his eyes and the later giving him a lame wave of greeting.

“What the hell are you two doing here???” Qrow questioned as he pushed in front of his nieces, pointing accusingly. “Tai, why are you with her??? She- _SHE_... you know what? Fuck it I don’t care right now.” He ignored his estranged family members to address his nieces again, “As long as you two are ok with them, I can deal. There's way too much else that's more important to deal with first.” The girls nodded in agreement.

Robyn took the chance to interject, “Let's all head to the hideout. We can swap stories to get on the same page and figure out what we can do from here.”

* * *

Everyone gathered together in the central room of the 3 floor hideout: a large open-room lounge with a central coffee table, 3 surrounding couches, a couple mismatched chairs, and a barely working chimney. As the huntresses took stock of supplies and available sleeping spaces, the rest gathered to share their sides of the events that transpired. Team JNR all sat together on the couch on the right, Ren on the floor at Nora and Jaunes knees. Team RWBY took the couch opposite them, Yang leaning against an arm next to Blake, then Weiss, then Penny, with Ruby sitting on the other arm. Tai and Raven stood behind them, out of the way but still present. And Qrow took the last couch by himself, his elbows resting on his knees. 

Team JNR started, Jaune speaking, “We went to find Oscar and secure the lamp while team RWBY and the Ace Ops went down to Mantle. Oscar was attacked by Neapolitan and had the lamp stolen from him by her. We heard Ruby through our scrolls but couldn’t call back and tell you what had happened. We went after Neo, trying to get the lamp back, but she kept disappearing around corners and using her transform semblance to blend in with Atlesian guards. It didn’t help that Atlesian soldiers came after us either, thanks to Ironwoods declaration. Oscar wanted to try and talk to Ironwood after we found a chance to pause and fill him in, so we split up to find you guys. We… We don’t know where he or the lamp is now.”

“We’ll find him.” Ruby consoled. “The lamp is a complication, but Oscar is more important right now. Penny, what happened with you and Winter? You told us how you got the maiden powers, but not the whole story.”

Penny startled minutely from her place on the couch. “Oh! Right... Well, as I mentioned, Winter and I were told by Ironwood to go after the winter maiden, Fria, and transfer her power to Winter. Before we could get the process started, Cinder blasted into the lab-”

“Wait, Cinder?” Jaune interrupted frantically. “Cinder’s here in Atlas!?” All the occupants of the JNR couch tensed. Nora bared her teeth, Ren clenched his fists, and Jaune's eyes flitted around the floor seemingly trying to find answers and remember what became of her back at Haven. 

Ruby held out a hand to placate the three, “She was, but she fled from us after I used my silver eyes on her. We’re not sure where exactly she is right now.” she paused to let that information sink in. “I know she’s a sore subject, but we can deal with her when we have everyone's sides and decide on a plan.”

The trio visibly relented at Ruby’s words. “Ok” Jaune conceded, “ok… we can leave her for later. She’s not important right this second. Please continue Penny.”

Ruby smiled, proud of her friend for his maturity. She gestured for Penny to continue.

“So Cinder entered the lab - We tried to fight her off, but it was Frieya who woke up and blasted Cinder away with her Maiden powers. Her ice engulfed the lab, pushing all of us out. I was… I was the only one who could withstand the freeze to reach her. She told me that she was sorry for waiting so long and asked my name and if I was supposed to be the next maiden. Cinder barged in before I could answer, as well as Winter who fended her off, but Freiya didn’t wait. She died and transferred the maiden powers to me. That was when Ruby and Weiss came and helped drive Cinder away. Winter, having been fairly injured, let us go and did not alert authorities beyond asking for medical.”

Penny and Weiss held hands then, giving each other comfort. Weiss was both devastated that her sister didn’t defect, and proud that she didn’t follow the order to arrest them. Penny was still confused over why she was chosen over Winter, and if she could’ve helped more to change her mind about staying. Both girls felt they lost her in some way. 

Ruby smiled gently at their show of support and comfort in each other, then followed Penny's story. “On our side, the Ace Ops and Team RWBY were called back to Ironwoods office. Apparently after he defeated Watts, he discovered a black glass chess piece outside his office, most likely left by Cinder. We tried to talk him down, seeing as Cinders presence was what caused the Fall of Beacon and his unrest about the situation, but we couldn’t stop him from freaking out. He found out that Blake and Yang told Robyn about Amity behind his back and started questioning our loyalty when-” She stopped, her throat seizing up a little. 

Yang crossed the couch and hugged her sister, continuing where she left off. “Ironwood had brought Watts’ bag into his office, and it had that crystal ball grimm in it. Salem projected herself into the room, tried to get Ironwood to side with her and give her the staff, talking about how he’d failed to do anything to stop her, and when Ruby told her that we would stop her… She said that mom- that mom told her the same once. That she was _wrong_.”

Anguish dripped from her voice as she continued to hug her distraught sister. The adults in the room were most affected besides the girls: Raven turned away to hide any emotion she felt about her former friend. Qrow’s face grimaced as he gripped his knees harshly. Tai stepped forward to hug his girls from over the couch back, murmuring reassurances that they’d be ok. 

After another minute, Ruby composed herself and completed the story, “After Salem... _left_ , Ironwood decided that with Salem on her way to Atlas and his forces being exhausted, that he was going to raise Atlas and lock away the Staff and the Lamp. We told him that he was leaving all of Mantle to die and that it was running away from people in need, but he wouldn’t listen. I used my semblance to speed past him and alert everyone to his plans before he locked our scrolls, then he sicked the Ace Ops on us. We beat them and left them in Atlas before finding a ship with Maria and Pietro, helping Penny, and escaping here. In the Manta.” She shifted around behind her, “Dad and Raven joined us on the manta.” Back around. “Uncle Qrow, what happened with you, Robyn, Clover, and Tyrian?”

Qrow took a long, shaky breath, _‘You can do this you old bastard. Don’t think about the reasons why, just explain the actions taken’_ and began. “Clover and I had been deployed to Mantle like you all had to control the grimm. Later on, James directed us to meet up with Robyn as she was bait to lure out Callows. The three of us beat him and captured him easily, loading into a manta to bring him back to Atlas.” 

He clenched his fists. _‘Stupid idiot called for a prison transport not a manta I’ll rip that pilots-’_

He stopped and took another breath.

“Shit fell apart after your message Ruby. We were already in the air, on our way to Atlas, when you called. Even with all my years of experience, in that moment I wasn’t sure what was going to happen.” Qrow took another pause, his head dropping to his hands as he recollected and tried to make a bit of sense of it. “I was trying to process James’ decision, why he would _possibly_ change his mind at this point and betray, no _forsake_ Mantle but- but then Clover got an order to arrest me and all of you. Robyn got defensive immediately when Clover told us about the order and started approaching us across the manta. He said he didn’t _want_ a fight - Didn’t _want_ to fight, HA! What a load of crap **that** was down in the tundra - but he was going to follow the order anyways. I tried to reason with him… I, I thought _surely_ he wouldn’t just betray us right then and there without so much as asking _why James would do this?_ ” 

Qrow had to stop. He couldn’t let his anger at James take over- not yet. Like he told Robyn, _there would be time to deal with those feelings later._

Once again, he took a moment to breath deeper and calm down before continuing, “I suggested that we’d drop off Callows to jail and Clover take me to James so I could talk him down, but before I could convince Clover, Callows interrupted me and spurred the verbal conflict into a physical fight between us all.” 

“I was the one to start that fight.” Robyn clarified from the doorway. She had been walking past the room to check on food supplies when she heard Qrow speaking. “I _was_ , and you better believe I still _am_ , pissed that Ironwood had flipped his script so quickly and was going to abandon Mantle. Clover said he wasn’t going to arrest me, only Qrow, but I wasn’t about to just let him go along with Ironwood’s plan.” Her face fell away from anger into remorse. “I’m not proud that Callows’ words emboldened my actions, but I stand by them. I just didn’t intend for things to go how they did.”

Doing his best to reign in his frustration towards her, Qrow continued. “Right, so with the fight between the three of us having broken out in the small space, Callows escaped his bindings and brought down the manta, leaving Robyn unconscious. I _tried_ to fight Callows, tried to recapture him _the real actual threat!_ But Clover kept coming after me instead, trying to arrest ME instead of Callows. At some point, my weapon was tossed to the wayside, Clover and I argued about what was the right thing to do, I broke his aura and-” 

A sob left his throat. He curled forward in his seat and gripped the back of his neck. He didn’t hear her jump up and rush to him, but Qrow felt Ruby's hand settle on his knee. 

“Uncle Qrow, you don’t have to keep going if it’s too much. We can guess what happened to-”

“No! No Ruby I can… I should finish.” He took her hand and held it; just to anchor himself. 

“I had- I broke Clover’s aura. We argued. Argued about what was right. Before Clover could finish- finish telling me that he wanted to trust me as much as James, Callows ran Harbinger through his chest from behind.”

Silent tears left his eyes but he squeezed Ruby’s hand harder and pressed on with his tale. “Callows ran away, and I knelt next to Clover and watched the light leave his eyes.” Shocked silence followed. “Before he d-died, I promised to hold James accountable, and he wished me _good luck,_ the bastard. Robyn and I were arrested, broke out, and crash landed before meeting up with you all.” 

Another silence. 

“Clover died by Tyrian Callows’ hand, blindly trusting James Ironwood, and now I’m going to make both of those bastards **_pay_ **.” Towards the end of his tale Qrow had unconsciously started rubbing the pin - Clovers pin, and now he was gripping it fiercely. Ruby hopped up next to him and Yang joined them on the couch, flanking Qrow on either side. Their hug was fierce. The pressure enclosing him was grounding, but broke his heart at the same time. 

“I’m so sorry to hear that Uncle Qrow” Ruby near whispered. “Fighting Tyrian again, having someone you thought you could trust betray you like that? Especially a partner…” 

Yang hummed in agreement. “We’ll do what we can to help you get through this. We’re not going anywhere any time soon, you better count on it.”

Qrow tried cracking a smile, but it ended up looking more like a grimace. “Thanks girls.”

* * *

As the kids settled in to start planning out what needed to happen, Qrow took a second to go upstairs to another room to calm down. He took to pacing around the room, going back over what he’d told them all. With the timing of Salem arriving and James' betrayal of an entire city he didn’t have the luxury of _time_ to work through his feelings completely. He’d just have to compartmentalize for the moment.

His pacing stopped when there was a knock on the door frame. Looking towards the sound, Qrow was surprised to see that Tai and Raven had followed him instead of staying to hear the kids’ plan.

Tai didn’t hesitate to step into the spare bedroom and address his brother-in-law, “Qrow, how are you doing?” _Raven stayed in the doorway, silent._

Qrow huffed, “About as well as I have been. Not… not as bad as when Summer… but pretty close.”

“I’m honestly surprised to see you sober, especially with the state of things in Atlas… Usually by now you smell like stale whiskey and your words run together like a river!” Tai said bluntly. “When did you stop?” 

“Before we landed in Atlas, so about 6 weeks ago.” Qrow said, electing to ignore Tai’s frank comment. “We went through a lot on the way here, and after things came to a head in Argus I realized that it was time to stop. That being drunk all the time was doing myself and those around me more harm than good, despite what I had convinced myself of all those years ago.”

“I’m proud of you,” Tai said with a smile. “And I’m glad you finally realized how dumb it was to drink away your problems!”

“Shut up Tai.” Qrow replied, his response lacking any real anger. He sat down on the bed and put his head in his hands. He was just so tired.

Tai dropped his smile, walking further into the room. He sat down next to Qrow and gently laid his hand on his shoulder. The other man didn’t flinch or pull away, so Tai took that as an invitation to talk. “I am sorry Qrow, really. I have no idea what happened after Haven and that things had gotten this bad in Atlas. Once things calm down I want you to tell me _everything_ , but for now I need to tell you how ashamed I am that I didn’t see how much I’d abandoned you, _my brother,_ over something so far in the past. From the sound of things, you could’ve really used someone who knew you and could understand your troubles, and I let our past get in the way of being that person for you.” 

“It’s- you didn’t know Tai-” 

“That's the problem!” He held Qrow by the shoulders and looked into his wide, dulled eyes, “After you left to look after Ruby and her friends, we didn’t keep up contact. I let communication with you go because of the communications tower going offline when I could’ve easily written letters. Even without knowing exactly where you were, I knew were you were going and could’ve sent letters there in anticipation.” He let go of Qrows shoulders and ran his hand through his hair. “I didn’t know anything that had happened until Raven came home and told me what went down at Haven, but I didn’t think to try and contact _you_ to ask about it. It took Raven feeling your and Yang’s distress through her semblance for me to come here, and with what you said downstairs and how the kids reacted it sounds like you’ve been through _so much_ hell. You _lost_ someone, someone that sounded _very dear_ to you, who I don’t even know!” Tai was actually close to crying now, his emotions usually the strongest of their teams besides Summers. He suddenly pulled Qrow into a tight hug, “I- We haven’t done right by you in a long time Qrow, but please, _please_ let us help you. Both with saving Solitas and with working through mourning someone it sounded like you held close.”

Qrow finally hugged him back, his hands grasping Tai’s vest desperately. “T-Tai… You... I don’t- you don’t…” Qrow couldn’t articulate just how relieved he was to be supported like this again. It had been so long since he even had a civil conversation with Tai that didn’t involve his missions or Oz or _Salem_ ... He couldn’t remember the last time they hugged, it could’ve been years even. His voice was choked from the emotions he was feeling but he managed a slightly croaked “ _Thank you_ , _Tai._ ”

The pair sat there for a few minutes longer, supporting each other and letting out lingering feelings over the situation; Qrow getting the first chance he could to let out his sadness over the death of his first real friend and partner in years, and Tai having a pause to express his mounting regret at his negligence for a former teammate and family member.

After they calmed down, the two broke their hug. Tai looked to Raven, still standing in the doorway observing. Having witnessed the beginning of their reconciliation she looked- sad? No… ashamed? Whatever expression she held on her face, it was uncomfortable to say the least.

From over his shoulder Qrow cleared his throat and spoke through his teeth, his voice betraying his struggle to not explode when he asked “So Tai, want to explain exactly why _she_ is here?”

Tai winced, “Well to make things short, she came to me after your battle at Haven. Yang said some things to her that made her rethink her actions the past few decades, and that expressed to me that she wanted to change; become, what was it you said?” he directed to his ex-wife, “‘Strong for the right reasons, like Yang?’ She’s been staying at the house with me since, working with me through her feelings and thoughts. When she felt you and Yang under distress, we talked about whether or not she would come with me to see you. Raven, if you would explain?”

Raven was caught off guard at the sudden shift in focus to her, but she cleared her throat and took a step into the room with poise. She explained, “I wasn’t, and still don’t, feel ready to face you or Yang, Qrow, but I wanted to come with Tai to both support him and make sure you two were alright. I honestly planned to leave after we deemed you two were ok, but with... _her_ here and how much is going on, I decided that it would be beneficial for me to stay. If Yang was being truthful earlier then you don’t know, but I... am the true spring maiden.” Raven's gaze dropped to the floor at Qrow's shocked expression. She just couldn’t bear to look into his betrayed eyes as she pleaded, “I’m… _sorry_ about Haven, Qrow. I can’t take away the hurt I caused with my past decisions, but I want to make things right from now on. I owe it to you all for showing me that my fears don’t have to control me anymore. I can help. If you’ll let me.”

A myriad of emotions flashed over Qrow's face as he took in Raven's words. Shock at her initial change of heart and decision to try and better herself, betrayal over the fact that words from his niece held more weight than his lifetime of experience with her, anger at what she kept from him, and tiredness and reluctant acceptance over her plea. 

“To be honest,” he started, “I still don’t trust you. We severed our ties as family back at Haven and I won’t easily go back on something like that. Especially with what you _know_ it means to me.” He sighed, “With the circumstances and impending doom beating down our door, I’ll accept your help BUT- we are all going to have a _very_ in-depth conversation after this is over.”

Raven stepped closer, “I understand. Thank you for giving me a chance. I’ll try to make it up to you, somehow.” 

Tai nodded in agreement, ”We’ll fix this. Whatever happens now, please trust us to help you. We haven’t been a team in a long long time, but I’d like to think we can still fight together well enough.” 

Qrow chuckled, “Even if we can’t get it together enough to fight as a team, the kids will pick up our slack like champs. Let’s go back downstairs and hear what they’ve come up with.”

* * *

Back in the common room, the kids had mostly finished putting together their plan. The 4 Happy Huntresses had joined them as well, Robyn having filled them in on Salem and Ruby filling any gaps in what Ironwood had told her. They all took it surprisingly well, keeping focused on their anger towards Atlas and the injustices Mantlites still faced. 

“If defeating Salem carves the way for Mantle to get the respect and treatment it deserves from those upper crust Atlesians, we’ll happily help” May had declared.

At the same time, Blake noticed Qrow, Tai, and Raven return and addressed them, “Ah, you’re back. Can we brief you on the plan?”

“Sure Blake,” Qrow said, his focus coming back, “what do we need to do?”

Ruby and her team brought them through their main objectives: Find Oscar, Try and reason with and/or stop Ironwood from raising Atlas and abandoning Mantle, and Stop Salem’s grimm from reaching Mantle/Atlas. “Team JNR is going to find Oscar, and Team RWBY and Penny are going to confront Ironwood and take the staff. The Happy Huntresses will accompany team RWBY and Penny to fight off the Ace Ops if needed, or any Atlas forces on our way to Ironwood. As for where you three fit in, we think that Dad and Raven should go with team JNR as backup and to distribute the teams’ maidens, and Uncle Qrow should come with us to help stop Ironwood and use the staff to lower Atlas back to the ground. Maria made a great observation on the way to Mantle that Salem isn’t advancing. It is possible that she’s waiting for us all to come at her with all we have, as defeating our best shot would be demoralizing for us. It gives us a chance to fix things between Atlas and Mantle before we face her.”

“Ruby…” Tai started hesitantly, trying not to seem like he’s questioning his daughter's leadership, “I’m on board with your plan, and think with us all we have a shot at reuniting Mantle and Atlas, but what can we do against Salem’s grimm army? What power, besides your silver eyes, can give us such a chance at driving her back here?”

“We have an ace up our sleeve.” She answered with a smile, directing it at her uncle meaningfully. “Or uh, lack thereof” she added, pointing to her own sleeves.

Qrow was taken aback, quickly putting together the pieces. ”Ruby… What do you- how could he possibly?...Wait-” 

Yang interrupted his objection, ”Part of the plan we came up with was having Penny, who is now the winter maiden, take the staff and use it to lower Atlas. After that, the staff would be free to use for whatever purpose, so we thought of ways it could help us in the fight with Salem. Deciding what that task would be was easy after Pietro discovered Oz’s logs of what the staff is capable of from Ironwoods computer, and after what you told us happened to him-” 

“We think that it is possible to use the staff of creation to resurrect Clover.” Ruby finished. Noticing her dad’s confusion, she asked, “Dad, did Uncle Qrow tell you about Clover?” 

Tai tried to make eye contact with Qrow to clarify what he could say, but his brother wouldn’t meet his eyes. Oh well. “Well yes Ruby, but briefly. All Raven and I know is how important a person this Clover was to him. Is there… something else important that he can bring to the table?” Ruby nodded, “Clover was Qrow’s new partner when we landed here in Atlas. He had a semblance of passive _good_ fortune, and a really good handle on controlling and directing it. We think that by having Jaune amplify his aura, he could use his semblance to give us an edge over Salem.” 

_“Good_ Fortune??? _”_ Tai exclaimed. “He better not have been an asshole about it to Qrow or I swear I’ll-”

Yang stopped him, “Dad relax, Clover isn’t- uh, wasn’t... like that! He genuinely cared about Uncle Qrow and made him happier.” 

Ruby continued from there, “That’s right. They got close enough to the point that they saw _each other_ , not their titles or semblances.” 

“But that wasn’t enough for this _Clover_ to value Qrow over his boss right?” Raven interjected from behind Tai. 

The room went deathly quiet. This was the first time Raven really said anything… _controversial_ since she and Tai arrived in Atlas, and about _Qrow_ no less. To Tai's pleasant surprise, his oldest daughter was not blowing up with rage. Her eyes were red, but there was no blazing hair or tense fists in sight. 

She took a cleansing breath and spoke calmly, “Well, we don’t know exactly why Clover did what he did. From what Uncle Qrow told us, Clover sounded at least a little remorseful for not going against Ironwood, but without Clover here to tell us, we can’t know for sure.” Yang pointedly spoke to Raven then, “Besides, who says we can’t try and change his mind like I did yours?”

Raven was taken aback, moreso by her own words than those of Yangs. “Oh I… suppose you’re right. I didn’t know that man at all, so- so I shouldn’t have judged him.”

Ruby nodded in approval and replied, “You do have a bit of a point though. When we bring Clover back, there is a possibility that we’ll have to convince him to go against Ironwood if dying under his orders wasn’t enough of a tipping point. We’ll just have to think of some way that will make him want to join us!” She moved her gaze over to her uncle, her face dropping a little.

Qrow still stood off to the side, hunched over, eyes still dulled, trying to comprehend what Ruby and the kids had come up with. 

He hadn’t paid any attention to the conversation since they mentioned resurrecting Clover. ‘They were going to _resurrect_ Clover? Bring him back to life… would it be that simple?’ He asked himself. What if they needed an equal trade for him? What if Clover didn’t want to come back, or didn’t listen to their side? Would he.. Would he even want to try with him again?

The rest of the group watched for a moment as Qrow's thoughts continued to spiral, his breath picking up.

Yang pulled Qrow out of his thought spiral by tugging his arm. She spoke to him softly and quietly, as to keep their conversation more private. “Uncle Qrow, I understand that you might be thinking about a lot of things right now… I went through something similar when Blake rejoined with us. I asked myself if she would trust me again, or want to be as close as we were. Turns out, all I needed to do was talk to her and be there for her when she needed it.” Her face grew determined, “Even with everything that happened between you, it sounds like Clover wasn’t 100% on Ironwood’s side and that he _did_ trust you. He would be a great asset in this upcoming battle like Ruby said, but we _also_ think he was really good for you personally, and we want you to be happy like you were when you had him around. If we can bring him back, it would be a chance for you two to fix things.” 

Taken aback by his niece's mature words, Qrow let out a weary sigh. “Looks like Ruby wasn’t the only niece of mine to do some growing up…” Yang and Blake had become incredibly close since they met again, and while he was blind to it during their journey to Atlas, he saw every sign how close they’d really gotten now that he was sober. His wistful smile dropped as he contemplated Yang's words, and thought about his relationship with Clover. They had not yet become romantically involved, but the showy and teasing flirting between them was mutual, as were their gentle shows of physical affection like brief hugs, arms around shoulders, and rituals of checking each other for injuries post-mission. Qrow _knew_ that Clover was a good person, that what the younger man had decided to do wasn’t because Qrow didn’t mean anything to Clover, but that following orders was a concrete action to take. Fear of the unknown was something Qrow was all too familiar with, he himself having felt that fear when Ruby and the kids planned on stealing an Atlas ship and fighting a giant robot, so he understood why Clover made the choice that he did. Still it frustrated him to no end that he couldn’t be a strong enough voice of reason for Clover to trust him. It frustrated Qrow then, and it still did now. But... if he had the chance to try again with him… to talk things through without being interrupted by a _psychotic killer_ \- then he would take it. He wanted to mend his relationship with Clover. 

“A-alright.” he relented, “If bringing Clover back is possible with the staff, then go for it. I have a feeling that James won’t take us trying to use the staff lying down, so you’ll have to do the honors while I help keep him busy.” 

A chorus of agreement came from the rest of team RWBY, who had listened in. Weiss added, ”And if he doesn’t join us, we’ll kick his butt like we did the rest of his team.” 

Qrow wiped a fake tear, ”I’m so proud of you all.” 

His heart swelled when the girls enveloped him in a hug.”And thank you, for not giving up on me.” _Maybe I’m going to be ok after all._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next three (I think) chapters are going to take longer than a week each to write up and have edited, so I'm saying it now that I most likely won't get another chapter out next Monday. 
> 
> _They're gonna be full of fights and various groups which i'm not the best at so please pray for me lol_
> 
> Till next time! Love you guys <3


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